Re-imagining Singapore Cycling

If you live in Singapore, forget whatever you thought you knew about cycling. Soon, it will not just be a guy thing. It won’t just be a poor thing. It won’t be that slow thing done on really cheap bikes bought from toy stores. It will not be risky. It will not even be a hot or sweaty thing, if you allow an extra five minutes to your destination. It will be the fastest most convenient form transport you know: Tampinese to Orchard in 35 minutes, or Clementi to Hougang in 40.

Cycling will also soon be the smartest way of arriving to work for politicians and bankers. People will fit breakfast dates between home and work, and add shopping trips with their friends on the end of each school day. You not find love on the dance floor, it will be waiting for you on the bike path.

Air conditioned bike parking facilities, like the cycle tree in Japan, will be waiting to store your bike on display when you arrive at Orchard Road to go shopping. Your ride will be shaded and breezy following waterways, and when you’re not beside water, you will ride in tubes that are air conditioned.

The scheme I am preparing to show to your government, is like the parkway connector network you know, insofar as it steers away from roadways and fumes. However both schemes have design parameters that are nothing alike. I’m working on a scheme that will see you all using electric assist bikes, or sports bikes, to greatly increase your mobility and access, compared to driving or transit.

That’s just a teaser. Look out for these images in the next edition of Singapore Architect, along with an interview I did with Felicia Toh. And thank you to Kelvin and Jia Xin from the University of Tasmania for working with me on maps and drawings.